Karnataka

Of late Karnataka has been in the news for unhealthy reasons. Controversies relating to the wearing of hijab by students have left a scar on the social landscape. This was followed by protests against the revision of school textbooks. The government did not handle either with skill. The opposition (read the Congress) also has failed to present to the public a vision for the state’s development.

In the context of opposition to the introduction of eggs in the mid-day meals scheme in Karnataka, the article delves into how the nutritional policy in the state has been held hostage by dubious unscientifi c beliefs ascribed to by small but infl uential religious and caste-based groups.

Do lockdowns and mobility restrictions contain the spread of COVID-19? Data was collected on district-level non-pharmaceutical interventions, using government notifications and news reports, in six major Indian states to assess the impact of NPIs on COVID-19 transmission and fatality in 2020. Findings suggest that NPIs slowed COVID-19 death rates in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Interventions that were most associated with slowing fatalities were temple closures, retail closures, and curfews. Even with incomplete compliance, limiting mass gatherings in face of incipient viral waves may save lives.

Imposed norms for uniforms in educational institutions cannot be the basis for equality in education.

The recent Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, passed in the Karnataka legislative assembly that claims to combat conversion is a diabolical move by the government to provide legal cover to the majoritarian fundamentalist oppression against minorities.